I left my mailman a xmas card with $10 and I know he took it, but he never acknowledged it as in saying thank you or something. Now I feel awkward when I see him. Ugh.

I was under the impression too that postal workers had good salaries and good pension plans. The postal service is going under so that is all going to look entirely different in a few years.

The postal service is going under because the Fed requires them to have 75 years of pensions 100% funded, now. That's pensions for people who haven't even been born and applied to work at the post office yet.

Yeah, I have a 401k I pay into and a cash balance pension plan that I don't. Before you get all jealous, though, my company suspended the cbp when they merged with another company so it only has $2800 in it. When I retire, I can opt for monthly checks in the $11 range!

Not very many private companies have them any more. Mine doesn't kick in really until I work with the company until I'm 55. I think a lot of federal pensions kick in when you have been working for them for 20 years? Or maybe that is the military.

Anyway, if I quit or get fired from my company prior to being 55, my monthly pension would be on the order of a few hundred dollars/month. At 55, it jumps into the thousands and if somehow I make it to 65 working for the company, it becomes some crazy amount. I started working for my company when I was 23 so 65 would be 32 years... wow.

On some level it seems unfair because if someone worked for the company for 10 years but retired at 55 (or 65), they'd get more money than someone who worked for the company for 20 years but left then 'retired' at 55 (or 65). On another level, my company no longer offers pensions for new employees so.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

Last edited by linanil on Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

I gave my mailman a $10 Starbucks gift card, he was in his van when I got home so I gave it to him and told him it's because my dogs are really annoying and bark at him every single day. I mean, i'm sure he gets much worse but he's a nice dude.

In TN the mail boxes (at least in my area) were all at the road, so they don't get out, and at least once when the mailwoman had to bring a package at the door she acted really annoyed that she had to pull into my driveway and get out of her car. I think not having to walk your whole route, especially in really hot/cold/snowy/rainy weather, is a pretty sweet gig.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I gave my mailman a $10 Starbucks gift card, he was in his van when I got home so I gave it to him and told him it's because my dogs are really annoying and bark at him every single day. I mean, i'm sure he gets much worse but he's a nice dude.

In TN the mail boxes (at least in my area) were all at the road, so they don't get out, and at least once when the mailwoman had to bring a package at the door she acted really annoyed that she had to pull into my driveway and get out of her car. I think not having to walk your whole route, especially in really hot/cold/snowy/rainy weather, is a pretty sweet gig.

Our mail carriers have to get out to put mail in centrally located boxes and they refuse to walk to our doors if they have certified mail (another 20 feet or so, no stairs or anything). So we get a slip in the mailbox that says they missed us and we have to pick up the thing from the post office or request it be delivered again. And by the time we go through the whole process eight times and finally just resign ourselves to picking it up, it's already been shipped back. So we've missed now like a dozen pieces of certified mail (probably all from the IRS so whatever). forkers do not get tipped.

I gave my mailman a $10 Starbucks gift card, he was in his van when I got home so I gave it to him and told him it's because my dogs are really annoying and bark at him every single day. I mean, i'm sure he gets much worse but he's a nice dude.

In TN the mail boxes (at least in my area) were all at the road, so they don't get out, and at least once when the mailwoman had to bring a package at the door she acted really annoyed that she had to pull into my driveway and get out of her car. I think not having to walk your whole route, especially in really hot/cold/snowy/rainy weather, is a pretty sweet gig.

Our mail carriers have to get out to put mail in centrally located boxes and they refuse to walk to our doors if they have certified mail (another 20 feet or so, no stairs or anything). So we get a slip in the mailbox that says they missed us and we have to pick up the thing from the post office or request it be delivered again. And by the time we go through the whole process eight times and finally just resign ourselves to picking it up, it's already been shipped back. So we've missed now like a dozen pieces of certified mail (probably all from the IRS so whatever). forkers do not get tipped.

I live really close to a post office so maybe this is why but our normal mailman delivers our mail to a group mailbox so basically services 20 houses at a time, plops them in and goes. If we get anything delivered to the door, it is a completely different mailman that only does door deliveries. It is quite odd.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

We have a really long driveway through woods. My mail carriers have to get out and and bring stuff to us a lot. They're so nice about it! We have a husband/wife combo at the moment )I think they are subcontractors because we are rural). Anyway, I appreciate them and tipped them.

My dad was a teacher and thought about working for the USPS after his teacher-retirement. He hated it. Apparently the pace is very fast and he found the whole thing very stressful (after teaching math to 8th graders for 30 years!). I don't know all the details, but his stories made me appreciate the work mail carriers do. Not all jobs are comparable.

I wasn't comparing the jobs as much as the fact that both serve the community and are tax payer funded. The post office doesn't have the expense of continual reeducation and professional licensing, don't pay for their own supplies, and generally have reasonable job retention rates. Also, postal workers have shifts to work. Teachers have to work insane extra hours off the clock.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

Somehow this thread is now all about mail men, haha. I was reading it for a bit and then remembered the original topic. My mailman does most of his route on foot. It's an incredible work out I'm sure. A lot of them work 6 days a week (here in Oregon at least). My friend is a floater mail woman and she hardly ever works 5 days a week.

I wasn't comparing the jobs as much as the fact that both serve the community and are tax payer funded. The post office doesn't have the expense of continual reeducation and professional licensing, don't pay for their own supplies, and generally have reasonable job retention rates. Also, postal workers have shifts to work. Teachers have to work insane extra hours off the clock.

Oh, I know. My parents are both teachers. I know as well as anyone that teachers are woefully underpaid as well as the time and educational commitments involved. I just wanted to stand up for mailmen. I also serve the community and am tax payer funded and I make more than twice that mailman salary. Serving the community and tax payer funded encompass a lot of jobs.

I wasn't comparing the jobs as much as the fact that both serve the community and are tax payer funded. The post office doesn't have the expense of continual reeducation and professional licensing, don't pay for their own supplies, and generally have reasonable job retention rates. Also, postal workers have shifts to work. Teachers have to work insane extra hours off the clock.

Oh, I know. My parents are both teachers. I know as well as anyone that teachers are woefully underpaid as well as the time and educational commitments involved. I just wanted to stand up for mailmen. I also serve the community and am tax payer funded and I make more than twice that mailman salary. Serving the community and tax payer funded encompass a lot of jobs.

The starting salary in my area for my tax payer funded job which requires a master's degree is less than the mail carrier salary.

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

Springs being banned made me sad. We could have taken her to a vegetarian restaurant and watched what happened...

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

I absolutely understand the issue here. I am just pointing out that tax payer funded and serving the community encompasses a wide variety of jobs, and it's not necessarily and apples to apples comparison just based on those two aspects.

I absolutely understand the issue here. I am just pointing out that tax payer funded and serving the community encompasses a wide variety of jobs, and it's not necessarily and apples to apples comparison just based on those two aspects.

Absolutely true. Public sector workers are an easy target for people, regardless of what they do.

(Admit you want Springs back...)

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

Bu it does often amaze me how underpaid teachers are compared to other careers, especially those with less education and specialized training required (Im sure there are a lot of postal workers with masters degrees, but it isnt a job requirement, nor do they have to pay for new college credits every two years out of their own pocket). This doesn't mean that I think postal workers are overpaid or that they all have some easy, cushy job.

I just get tired of hearing how overpaid teachers are, so when comparisons like this crop up, it does amaze me. People think public employees of all stripes should be working for free or something. And no coffee breaks!

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

You need years in to get that here. It does vary widely. Near DC, starting ranges from $34-48k for a new teacher with a masters. This is much higher than the state average because of the high cost of living. Plus many districts have had pay and step freezes for years, so many have never gotten off first year pay. Mine doesn't have a total freeze.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

My friend with a masters in special ed who has been teaching for 7 years I think makes about 55k here in Oregon. I wonder if its a regional thing and in NY they add in the cost of living? When I lived in the bay area I made almost twice as much myself (not a teaching position).

I just started reading this thread and realized that the same person was banned at the Cooking Light BB last week for the very same topic! How funny that anyone would have the time/energy for this kind of behavior.

I waited tables in college (over 25 years ago) and still have nightmares about it. I tip well.